Not Your Fault
by Crystal di Angelo
Summary: George listens to Harry recount everything, and is shocked to discover that he indirectly caused Fred's death. One shot.


_**Spoilers: Order of Phoenix, Half-Blood Prince and Deathly Hallows**_

_**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, or else I would be travelling around the world for the second time with all the money I would have made.**_

_**Warnings: Suicide attempt (though not very accurate)**_

_**Dedicated to: Phoenicis Hida (if only you knew how many ideas you gave me for a fanfiction…well, maybe you know about the ones I have finished but not the ones I never got around to do because of plain laziness)**_

_**Anything else? No? Ok…on with the story.**_

_**You have been warned of the writer's terrible writing. It is not too late to turn back now. Do your best not to flame at me because it was YOUR decision to continue reading, despite my many warnings.**_

_**You have been warned…**_

_**Behold, the ultimate killer of fanfiction reputations!**_

* * *

_**Not your fault**_

_**Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix**_

_Chapter Twenty-Eight: Snape's Worst Memory_

'_Yeah, Montague tried to do us in during break,' said George._

'_What do you mean, "tried"?' said Ron quickly._

'_He never managed to get all the words out,' said Fred, 'due to the fact that we forced him head-first into that Vanishing Cabinet on the first floor.'_

* * *

'Well,' Montague said, smirking at the twins, who were looking at him with crossed arms. 'Ten for being blood traitors, ten for such a badass sister, ten for having red hair, ten for having freckles. So that makes-'

He never finished his sentence, for George's well aimed kick sent him stumbling head-first into the Vanishing Cabinet.

Fred casually checked the hourglass as if they hadn't sent a member of the Inquisitorial Squad on a dangerous magical journey. 'Good work, George. Apparently he has to finish the sentence before it takes effect.'

George smirked. 'Good riddance!' he yelled at the now empty Vanishing Cabinet. 'Have a safe journey!'

* * *

_**Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince**_

_Chapter Twenty-Seven: The Lightning-Struck Tower_

'_In Borgin and Burkes,' said Malfoy, 'and they make a kind of passage between them. Montague told me that when he was stuck in the Hogwarts one, he was trapped in limbo but sometimes he could hear what was going on at school, and sometimes what was going on in the shop, as if the cabinet was traveling between them, but he couldn't make anyone hear him…In the end, he managed to Apparate out, even though he'd never passed his test. He nearly died doing it. Everyone thought it was a really good story, but I was the only one who realized what it meant-even Borgin didn't know-I was the one who realized there could be a way into Hogwarts through the cabinets if I fixed the broken one.'_

* * *

If only he hadn't kicked Montague into that Vanishing Cabinet. If only he'd just let Montague dock that forty points. If only…

George's head was spinning as Harry told them the full story of what happened on the tower, giving Malfoy's speech word for word. He couldn't hear the rest of Harry's story anymore, just a strange empty feeling in his heart.

It was five years after the Last Battle, five years after Fred's death. Ginny was heavily pregnant, and all of them had come to pay their respects at Dumbledore's final resting place. Ginny had demanded that Harry tell the full story to them, so that he might heal completely. Now George was regretting urging Ginny on.

If only he hadn't kicked Montague into that stupid Cabinet. Then Malfoy would never have known, and Dumbledore would still be alive. If Dumbledore was still alive, then maybe You-Know-Who would never have dared to attack Hogwarts, and Fred would be still alive. Lupin and Tonks would've escaped death, and the adorable Teddy Lupin now carried by Harry wouldn't be an orphan. Colin Creevy would be able to achieve his ambition of being a wizard photographer by now, not lying in a cold grave. And there were still so many deaths…

_And it was all his fault._

George didn't remember how they broke the mourning party out, or how he got home (Did he Apparate or fly?).

He only remembered how he slumped down in front of the mirror, pretending that his reflection had both ears and started to cry.

* * *

_**Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows**_

_Chapter Thirty-Three: The Prince's Tale_

'_That ring carries a curse of extraordinary power, to contain it is all that we can hope for; I have trapped the curse in one hand for the time being-' (…) 'How long do you think I have?' (…) 'Maybe a year. There is no halting such a spell forever. (…)' (…)'__**You **__must kill me.'_

* * *

'George!' Mrs. Weasley screamed, hurtling down the stairs, aiming a Hover Charm in the direction of George's window, just in time to stop George's head from cracking on the ground below. 'Don't!'

George was lowered gently onto the ground just as Harry Apparated into their midst, beaming and announced, 'It's a boy! James Si-wait, what happened?'

Mrs. Weasley reached George and pulled the shaking boy into a hug. George may not be a boy anymore, but she would always fondly reminisce the days when he was little and with Fred-

'George.' She asked, gently this time. 'What happened?'

George didn't answer, just continued to sob and mutter things incomprehensible to her.

'What's going on?' Harry tried again. 'What did George do?'

'He jumped from his bedroom window.' Bill replied shortly, since he was still out of breath, having dashed down the stairs, fell down once in his haste, and remembered that he could Disapparate.

'What?!'

George was continuing to sob. 'My fault…'

'What?' Mrs. Weasley asked sharply. 'Sweetie, we've been through this before. There's no way that you could've stopped that giant from smashing the wall in, and nobody could've been quick enough to use a Shield Charm. I'm really impressed that you made it out alive.'

George swiped at his tears furiously with his left hand, his right still clinging onto his mother's waist. 'Mom, there's something that you don't know about! If I didn't kick Montague into that stupid Vanishing Cabinet, Dumbledore would've been still alive and You-Know-Who wouldn't have dared to storm Hogwarts, and Fred wouldn't have died!'

Harry cut in. 'But-'

Bill frowned. 'And when did you know about that?'

Harry interrupted again. 'Last week, at Dumbledore's mourning party. I told them about Malfoy. But George-'

'George, you couldn't have known. Stop thinking like this.' Bill told George sternly.

'I just thought that I wanted to apologize to Fred in person…and tell Dumbledore that I'm sorry…and Remus…Tonks…'

Everyone was silent for a moment. A gnome scurried away from behind a weird ivy crawling up George's window.

Harry broke the silence. 'George-'

'Yeah, I know, it's not my fault, isn't it? Everyone says that! But-' George stopped for a moment, wiping his eyes furiously. 'But it is! I know that! I don't know what Fred would say, but I'm pretty sure that he would have worked it out himself by now, and-and-I don't know if he would hate me!'

'GEORGE!' Harry practically yelled. 'IT'S A FACT! DUMBLEDORE WAS ALREADY DYING BY THEN, SNAPE AND THE DEATH EATERS JUST FINISHED HIM OFF A FEW HOURS EARLIER!'

Everyone present stared at Harry in shock, who blushed. Then they burst out together.

'WHAT?! How?' Mrs. Weasley demanded.

'Well, that's a relief.' Bill smiled.

'Don't make things up just to cheer me up.' George scowled.

'It's true!' Harry protested. 'If you want I can drink some truth potion-though it might take a month before it's ready. Or I can Summon Dumbledore's Pensieve here and I'll let you see my memories. Or-'

'That isn't necessary, though it was very kind of you.' Mrs. Weasley smiled in gratitude at Harry.

'I still miss Fred.' George said ruefully, though already convinced. 'I'm sorry, mom. And Bill.'

Bill pulled his younger brother into another hug, though admittingly not as bone-crushing as Mrs. Weasley's. 'Me too. We all do. But sometimes we would have to go on and get used to this new life. Let's just pretend that Fred's on holiday in a place far away and won't get the chance to come back because the person he works for thinks he's so hilarious that he couldn't live a day without him.'

George gave a watery chuckle.

'I think I'll be changing James's middle name.' Harry announced to no one in particular. 'I think that Ginny would like this new name a lot.'

All of them shot him curious looks, though they already expected what he was going to say next.

'James Frederick Potter would sound fabulous.'

* * *

_**I don't think that I did the suicide scene well enough, but hey, I never attempted suicide before, so how was I to know a person attempting suicide would feel like?**_

_**I know, I know, it should be James Sirius Potter, but just accept it, ok? Because I wrote until Bill hugging George, and had absolutely no idea how to continue it. So I just made Harry change James's name. **_

_**Flames are not encouraged, but not banned either. Do try avoiding flaming if you can help it. **_

_**Reviews are always welcome.**_

_**If you are reading this, congratulations! You have just survived the worst and most awkward fanfiction I have ever written. Your stubbornness to survive is indeed admirable. **_

_**If you are still reading this, congratulations! You have more patience than usual for meaningless author notes.**_

_**If you are still reading this, congratulations! You have passed the test, and now can proceed to read more worthy and better fanfictions than this. (Of course, I don't really control it.)**_

_**Happy reading!**_


End file.
